This is our special Holiday episode – 10 holiday tracks for your listening pleasure! We were amazed to find out how many Seattle jazz artists have recorded holiday music.
If you’re a long-time listener, you may recognize this episode, as it’s the same one we posted last Christmas, with a new introduction. We could be bold and say that this one was so good that we didn’t feel the need to do a new one, but the reality is that we just let the time slip away. Be that as it may, we think it’s pretty good and worth a second listen.
Be sure to listen to the end for a special treat! 
Jazz Now! Seattle - Special Episode 9: Christmas Special 2011 [ 1:02:25 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (218)If you like any of the music you hear, please support the artists and purchase their album by clicking on the CD cover.
- Dawn Clement – “Silver Bells/If I Were A Bell”
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From the CD Christmas with Dawn (self-produced)
Dawn Clement is one of the finest piano players on the Seattle jazz scene. She’s played with all the heavies in town and released a number of great CD of her own. This Christmas album came out a few years back and features Geoff Harper on bass, Byron Vannoy on drums and Tobi Stone on sax. This mash-up starts out slow and beautiful and ends up swingin’ like crazy! We thought it’d set the perfect mood for this show. - Josh Rawlings – “O Tannenbaum”
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From the EP Holiday Classics for Solo Piano (J&J Music)
Josh is another of our town’s fine piano players. Whether leading his own groups or anchoring the rhythm section of countless singers and horn players, Josh always plays just the right thing. He sat down last year and recorded a few of his favorite holiday classics, which you can download for free by clicking on the cover to the right. This track shows off Josh’s impressionistic solo playing beautifully. - Katy Bourne – “We Three Kings”
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From the EP My Season of Giving (self-produced)
Not only has Katy released a great Holiday EP this year featuring Randy Halberstadt on piano and Clipper Anderson on bass, but it’s all for a great cause. All proceeds from the sale of this music goes to the Trevor Project, who’s mission is “to end suicide among LGBTQ youth by providing life-saving and life-affirming resources.” We applaud Katy for putting this together and raising money for such a worthwhile organization. Read more about why Katy chose to do this great project and show some support by purchasing the music here. - Don Lanphere – “The Christmas Song”
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From the CD Year ‘Round Christmas (Origin Records)
This album, from the dearly departed Don Lanphere, was originally recorded in 1989 and re-released a few years ago by Origin. It’s a holiday CD, to be sure, but it’s also a fantastically swingin’ record with great playing. This tune features a great opening trombone solo from Jeff Hay as well as Marc Seales on piano, Chuck Deardorf on bass and Dean Hodges on drums. Enjoy! - Tim Carey – “Silent Night”
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From the CD Pocky’s X-mas Classics, Vol. 1 (self-produced)
Most people know Tim as the excellent bass player in groups like Reptet, Hardcoretet, Sambatuque and the Jovino Santos-Neto trio. What you might not know is he’s a fantastic guitar player as well. On this beautiful take he recorded both guitar tracks. In fact, he played all the the instruments on this brand new holiday CD. You can pay what you want for it by clicking the cover. - Richard Cole – “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”
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From the CD A Glance Back (Origin Records)
This CD is a hidden gem in the Origin catalog. This was Rich’s first CD as a leader, and while it’s not a holiday CD, it does contain this arrangement by Rich. His crack band on this one features Dave Peterson on guitar, John Hansen on piano, Jeff Johnson on bass and John Bishop on drums, as well as a special guest appearance by his brother Ron on flugelhorn. - Various Artists – “Winter Wonderland”
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From the CD The Cool Season: An Origin Records Holiday Collection, Vol. 2 (Origin Records)
Origin has been putting out great holiday discs for the past few years. This one came out in 2007 and features Thomas Marriott on trumpet, Bill Anschell on piano, Jeff Johnson on bass and John Bishop on drums. This track is an Anschell arrangement and features great playing by all! Origin is currently having an sale on all their holiday titles. Click here for details. - Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra – “David Danced Before the Lord With All His Might”
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From the CD Sacred Music of Duke Ellington (Origin Records)
The SRJO’s performance of Duke Ellington’s Sacred Music Suite is the world’s longest-running annual presentation of this amazing work. Now in it’s 22nd year, this concert has become one of the highlights of the season in Seattle. This track comes from the 2003 performance and features many of the area’s top players. - Snack Snermin – “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”
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From the CD Merry Christmas Times for the Holiday Seasons (self-produced)
We are proud to present the world broadcast premiere of a new artist on the Seattle jazz scene that you’ll be hearing big things from in 2011. This CD showed up in our mailbox recently and we were completely blown away by the talent, the production, the professionalism and the overall seriousness of the project. Take a listen for yourself and we think you’ll see what we’re talking about. - Snack Snermin – “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas”
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From the CD Merry Christmas Times for the Holiday Seasons (self-produced)
We are so in love with this CD that we had to give you another track. This is Snack himself reading the holiday classic “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas”.OK, so maybe by now you’ve caught on that this is not entirely serious! Snack Snermin is the alter-ego of Seattle bassist Geoff Harper. Geoff is an amazing bassist and one of the funniest guys you’ll meet, as evidenced here. We hope he’ll let us play more of his wacky stuff on the podcast in the future.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this second look at our first holiday special podcast. Please have a safe and happy Christmas weekend and we’ll be back next week to preview the Seattle jazz happenings for New Year’s Eve and the first week of 2012!
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